Melbourne grind out victory

A Cameron Smith penalty goal has proved the difference as Melbourne ground out a tough 16 to 14 victory over a determined Penrith Panthers outfit at Olympic Park tonight.

In what began as a free-flowing match that promised to yield a big scoreline, poor handling restricted the chances for both teams.

Melbourne started on fire, earning an early penalty then threatening the Panthers line by running it on the last.

Penrith, however, were the first to score, with Michael Jennings finding lots of space down the left, before coming back inside and finding Brad Tighe who found himself brought down from behind just five metres out however, thanks to the momentum of his tacklers, slid into the in-goal for the try.

Penrith almost had two tries in as many minutes after Shane Elford further exposed Melbourne's weak right side defence, racing away before kicking in for Lewis.

Melbourne finally got on the board in the 15th, and it came after three consecutive sets on Penrith's line, with Slater easily stepping past some tired defenders and planting the ball down under the posts.

Lachlan Coote was in the thick of things in the 28th when, after being collected in the air by Ryan Hoffman, decided to pick a fight with the player closest to him...which just happened to be the much larger Greg Inglis. The penalty remained with the Panthers, however Inglis and Coote both got a good talking to from the referees.

From that point until the end of the half, the damp conditions came well into play as neither team was capable of hanging onto the ball long enough to create any pressure, and the scoreline as a result remained at six points all.

Coming out of the half, Penrith looked the team more determined to run away with this game, after they completed their opening two sets. The Storm, by contrast, only managed to complete four plays in their opening two, losing the ball both times.

It proved third time lucky for the Storm, when in the 46th minute they finally got to their kick, which was collected by Anthony Quinn in the corner for the try.

Following the restart, Cooper Cronk kicked a beautiful 40/20, and Smith then caught the markers out of position, earning an additional two points for his team.

Penrith needed to be the next to score, and they didn't have to wait long for their chance after Aiden Tolman lost the ball following the restart.

Wade Graham then held the ball up for Lewis coming through on the angle to slice through some weak defence and dive over under the posts in the 53rd.

A dubious dangerous tackle penalty against Will Chambers at the 56th gave Michael Gordon the chance to square things up once again. The tackle will prove the most talked about subject following the game as, while it wasn't a conventional lifting tackle in which the player goes past the horizontal, is deemed dangerous as Chambers (unaided) lifted Coote up unaided a good two metres off the ground before slamming him down on his back with little to no control.

The contentious ruling proved the spark Melbourne needed, lifting their intensity and earning what would be Smith's game winning penalty goal in the 61st.

The final twenty of the second half mirrored that of the first half, with poor handling marring what had otherwise been an exciting match.

Changes aplenty for both teams, and they read as such:
STORM: For the home team, Greg Inglis moves back to his favoured position of centre, and young James Maloney will make his debut at 5/8. Kevin Proctor comes off the bench to start, sending Wairangi Koopu back to the bench where Matt Cross also joins the team in number 19.
PANTHERS: Matt Elliot has sent Wade Graham, Matt Bell and Paul Aiton back to the bench. Luke Lewis shifts to 5/8, Tim Grant, Masada Iosefa and Nathan Smith all come into the starting team at prop, hooker and lock respectively, and Frank Puletua drops off the bench.

3 min: Melbourne ran it on the last, with Cronk throwing a long cut-out ball to create the overlap for Hoffman, who duly killed it by taking the line on.

4 min: VIDEO REF - Possible Panthers Try...
Just checking for double movement after Tighe slid a long way in for the try.

4 min: TRY Penrith Panthers
After Melbourne muffed it at one end, Penrith took straight back down the other through a long break down the left by Jennings, who came back inside and found Tighe backing up and carried the defence over for the try. Conversion attempt by Michael Gordon successful.
Penrith Panthers 6-0

14 min: Smith puts Maloney through a big hole before he's pulled down a metre from the line by Sammut.

15 min: TRY Melbourne Storm
It took three consecutive sets on Penriths line, but Melbourne have finally broken through, with Slater simply stepping through a few weak tackle attempts before finding himself in the in-goal. Slater didn't seem to expect to have gotten through so easy, almost running the ball dead before stopping, looking around to see where he was, and then putting the ball down. Conversion attempt by Cameron Smith successful.
6 all

19 min: Great play by Civoniceva, who found himself back in the in-goal to take a kick by Quinn on the bounce, then reeling out of a tackle to get back to the field of play.

20 min: PENALTY - Panthers: Quarter of the game gone, and Penrith finally have their first penalty.

21 min: Penrith have butchered a certain try, with Tighe losing the ball with a two-on-one overlap

22 min: Edge defence on the right looking shaky for the Storm, with Lewis breaking through and finding Elford in some space, with a cover tackle by Turner the only thing preventing a try.

23 min: Two good kicks in two minutes from Coote have yielded two goal-line dropouts for the Panthers.

24 min: Pritchard loses the ball on the second tackle, and all the pressure is released off Melbourne.

25 min: Big incision made straight up the middle by Maloney.

28 min: BIFF!
Coote gets taken out in the air by Hoffman, and then decides to take exception with Inglis after he came in over the top...the look on his face shows Coote looks to be regretting his decision.

28 min: PENALTY - Panthers: Penrith get the penalty for the mid-air tackle, but both Coote and Inglis get a talking to.

30 min: Hoffman loses the ball after a big hit from Cooper. Penrith on the Storm 40.

31 min: Cooper now coughs it up in a good tackle.

31 min: A driving tackle on Koopu forces him back some five metres, and after what seems like an eternity the tacklers finally clear the ruck, and Koopu loses his grip on the ball.

32 min: Penrith continue the trend, with Coote losing it on the first tackle.

33 min: Ok, now this is just getting rediculous. To Melbourne's credit, they did manage to get to the fourth tackle before losing the ball.

33 min: Try-saving tackle by Slater denies Coote a metre from the line.

38 min: After forcing the mistake from Penrith, Melbourne have now coughed it up just 15 out from their line. One last chance for Penrith to take a lead into half time.

39 min: Poor kick by Lewis is well read by Slater, and that'll do us for the first half.

HALF TIME
It's half time here, and in what has been an exciting game so far, the Storm and the Panthers find themselves locked up at 6 all, but the scores could be so much higher.

Defence doesn't seem to be playing a part tonight, with both teams playing expansive, exciting football and finding space left, right and centre. Handling is the only thing keeping each team in this one, with neither team seeming capable of getting through an entire set for the second half of the first period, including a three minute stretch where the ball was lost on the first tackle a total of four times.

It's anyone's game here, and whichever team is able to remove the errors from their game will go on to win this one.

Stay tuned, the second half is just minutes away!

40 min: Melbourne kick off and Penrith almost lose it on the very first!

41 min: Penrith recover to get to their kick, however Melbourne dont even get to their second with Slater losing the ball cold in the tackle.

42 min: Aiton drives forward with the legs and make his way into the in-goal with about 5 Storm defenders hanging off him.

43 min: Melbourne have had the ball twice and have lost the ball twice...not good signs for the Storm.

44 min: PENALTY - Storm: Penrith, by contrast, have got to the end of all their sets, however haven't gained a result, and in this instance have given away a penalty for being in-front of the kicker.

46 min: TRY Melbourne Storm
Melbourne finally get to their kick, and as a result get a try through Quinn. Conversion attempt by Cameron Smith successful.
Melbourne Storm 12-6

48 min: Melbourne looking to take full control of this game, with Cronk kicking a magnificent 40/20

50 min: PENALTY - Storm: Smith catches the markers out on the last tackle, and has opted to take the kick at goal.

52 min: Blair unloads the ball to an unsuspecting Tolman, who wasn't expecting it. Great chance for the Panthers to hit straight back.

53 min: TRY Penrith Panthers
Graham held the ball out for Lewis who came in at an angle, and sliced straight through under the posts. Conversion attempt by Michael Gordon successful.
Melbourne Storm 14-12

55 min: Sammut goes for the chip n' chase and, while he doesn't get to the ball first, does earn his team another set after the Storm are unable to collect the ball.

56 min: PENALTY - Panthers: Dangerous tackle by Chambers, who lifted Coote up into the air before slamming him onto his back. Whilst not a conventional lifting tackle as Coote didn't go past the horizontal, the fact that Chambers had very little control over Coote once he was in the air is what deemed it to have been dangerous. Coote coming off the field injured, and Penrith get a free interchange after Chambers is placed on report. Gordon to take the shot at goal.

60 min: PENALTY - Storm: Following the touch judge's advice, Referee Chris James is about to give a penalty against Nathan Smith for taking out Slater off the ball, before Luke Lewis comes forward and admits fault. Replays suggest Slater ran into Lewis and took himself out.